Politics extend beyond city boundary

ASPEN — Aspen's mayoral candidates can't court votes outside the city limits, but money is another matter.

All but one of the four contenders for the City Council's helm have out-of-town and out-of-state contributors to thank for helping fund their campaigns in a race that mirrors the resort itself - a decidedly small-town, but high-profile affair.

Candidates filed their first campaign contribution and expense reports last week and another is due Tuesday, May 1, a week before the May 8 election.

Former Pitkin County Commissioner Mick Ireland led the pack with an $18,339 war chest in the early going, but former City Councilman Tim Semrau wasn't far behind with $17,525 in contributions. For both men, roughly a third of the money came from outside the city. Councilman Torre reported $5,907 in contributions, but slightly less than $1,000 came from elsewhere - mostly out of state. He attributed $2,250 to 100 attendees at a fundraising party at Kenichi without detailing the sources of those contributions.

Behrend neither collected nor spent money in her bid thus far, according to her report.

While Semrau took in $5,100 from out-of-state sources, Ireland pulled in roughly $6,100 from around Colorado - much of it from the Roaring Fork Valley. In fact, his supporters held a gathering for him last week to raise funds and give the candidate a forum to discuss his views - in Carbondale.

Margi Wilkinson, an Aspen small-business owner and former Aspen resident who has moved to Carbondale, is helping with Ireland's campaign; she hosted the event in her barn. Roughly 200 e-mails went out on short notice to midvalley residents with current or former ties to Aspen, she said.

"I looked around and realized lots of other people are in my same position," Wilkinson said. "To me, the Aspen community encompasses Basalt, Carbondale and Glenwood Springs, as well ... we're all intertwined."

The event raised perhaps $1,400 for Ireland's campaign, she said, and may produce another $500 or so from invitees who didn't attend.

Ireland estimates only a dozen people or so showed up for the live music, hors d'oeuvres and political discourse, but he's not surprised those without a voting voice in Aspen politics will nonetheless open their wallets.

Neither is Semrau. Both men acknowledged the interest Aspen draws from its second-home owners, visitors and the greater valley. The campaign, after all, attracted the interest of The Denver Post - a major metropolitan newspaper that isn't likely to cover a Basalt election, though it featured the Aspen mayoral race in its pages this week.

"Lots of people who don't vote in Aspen have an interest in Aspen politics - lots and lots of people," Semrau said.

Still, Semrau expressed surprise at the sum his candidacy has attracted from outside the state. The former councilman said he watches the bottom line, but hasn't studied who's ponying up the money.

Sidney and Phyllis Rodbell of Atlanta, Ga., gave $250 to Semrau's campaign. They own a second home in Aspen - one they purchased from Semrau - and follow Aspen politics even though they can't vote in the city election.

"I still have to live with the decisions made in the city every day," Sidney explained.

Semrau is a "good guy" who will bring balance to the City Council, he added.

A builder/developer by trade, Semrau received financial support from more than a dozen developers, real estate brokers and architects, as well as several downtown Aspen commercial property owners. The professions of many of his contributors were not identified on his report, though, making it difficult to fully assess the interests of his backers.

Ireland's tally of support from the greater valley reads like a who's who of current and former elected officials, and others with ties to upper valley government. Most are contacts from his many years as a county commissioner, he said.

Count Jacque Whitsitt, a former Basalt councilwoman who has long been active in valley politics, among the former commissioner's vast circle of colleagues, friends and acquaintances.

A contributor to Ireland's campaign, she noted the impact decisions in Aspen have on the greater valley. Traffic jams and mass transit affect downvalley residents who commute to Aspen, while the resort's work force needs translate into housing impacts and development pressure well beyond the city's borders, she reasoned.

"Everything affects everybody," Whitsitt said.

Patti Plunkett, on the other hand, had never met Ireland before Wilkinson invited her to last week's fund-raiser. Though the Carbondale resident has never contributed to a political campaign in her own community, she made a donation to Ireland's and said she's encouraging others to do the same.

Aspen's biggest political hot potato - what to do with Highway 82 at the entrance to town - directly impacts Plunkett, since she commutes to a job in Aspen.

"I have to drive up and down all the time. The Entrance to Aspen, whatever it may be, is of interest to me," she explained.

Torre's contributors are difficult to pigeonhole, especially since a number of them are grouped together anonymously, but his list included several Aspen residents who have also been outspoken on the entrance issue - and who share the councilman's distaste for a realigned highway over open space on the edge of town.

Among the 10 out-of-town contributors on his list were eight individuals from out of state - family friends and others, all with longtime ties to Aspen, he said.

The contributors at the Kenichi gathering were mostly local, plus a few visitors to town, Torre added.

The far-reaching interest in the election campaign isn't surprising, he said, given the nature of Aspen, but Torre expressed concern about the amount of money being raised and spent by two of his opponents.

"I think it's a little over the top for a small community like we are," he said.

Two years ago, incumbent Mayor Helen Klanderud spent $7,842 on her campaign and won a third term in office. Her closest challenger, Torre, spent slightly more than $2,000.

But this year, with Klanderud forced out by term limits, the seat is up for grabs. Campaign spending intensifies when there is no incumbent advantage in the race, according to City Clerk Kathryn Koch.